


Graduation, Interrupted

by cazmalfoy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Graduation, Slight Tony/Natasha - if you squint, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 21:18:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16710202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazmalfoy/pseuds/cazmalfoy
Summary: As soon as he finds out about it, Tony quickly agrees to attend Peter's High School graduation.Of course, the Avengers are then called on a mission, threatening Tony's ability to keep his promise.





	Graduation, Interrupted

**Author's Note:**

> A quick fic I wrote to boost my word count during NaNoWriMo 2018.

“Are you looking forward to graduating?”

The question, spoken from across the table, made Peter pause and mentally wince. He had been purposely keeping his mouth shut about the ceremony celebrating the finalisation of his High School education.

Foolishly Peter had thought he’d gotten away with it. Of course, he hadn’t taken into account that Natasha was the sneakiest person in  the world and she paid more attention than most gave her credit for.

“Haven’t really thought about it,” Peter lied, trying to plaster an innocent look on his face. She knew that lying, that much was obvious; especially because she raised an eyebrow in response to his words.

Peter was saved from having to further expand the lie - anything rather than explain why he didn’t want to talk about his reticence to talk about his graduation - when Tony walked into the room and they all fell silent.

The genius billionaire froze when he felt everyone’s eyes on him and he shuffled uncomfortably where he stood. “What did I miss?” Tony murmured. His brown eyes went wide, “Oh god, there isn’t another alien invasion, right? I’ve barely got over the last one.” There was a distinct whine in his voice that made the other’s chuckle.

“No aliens,” Natasha soothed with a grin. “Although you’ve probably jinxed us now, so thanks for that.”

Tony shrugged unrepentantly and continued moving further into the kitchen, heading straight for the coffee pot which had been brewing away silently on the counter. 

“Then what’s got you all looking so serious?” he asked over his shoulder as he poured himself a cup. 

Peter shook his head, silently trying to beg Natasha to not say anything. Of course, he should have known that there was no way he could stop the Black Widow from doing something if she didn’t want to.

“I’m just trying to figure out why Peter here isn’t excited about graduating High School,” she told Tony, smirking when the teenager’s eyes narrowed in a glare.

Tony hummed as he sipped his coffee, turning around to lean back against the counter. “I wasn’t excited to graduate either,” he told Peter, making the teenager grin in response; he should have known that his mentor would be on his side rather than Natasha’s.

Natasha rolled her eyes. “You were like twelve when you graduated,” she pointed out grumpily. “ _Normal_ people are excited to leave High School behind.”

“I never said I wasn’t excited,” Peter pointed out, knowing that she wasn’t going to leave him alone if he didn’t give her something. Natasha raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain why he didn’t seem like he cared. “It’s just a little bittersweet,” he added with a shrug of his shoulders.

Tony frowned deeply and met Natasha’s confused eyes with his own. “How come?” he asked when he decided that he couldn’t figure out why graduation would be a bitter sweet experience.

Peter took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn’t wanted to admit what had been bothering him for a while, but knew that he couldn’t keep his feelings secret much longer. “Whenever I’ve thought about graduation in the past, I always imagined Uncle Ben sitting there with Aunt May.”

As one Tony and Natasha drew in a breath and guilty looks appeared on both of their faces. It was clear that neither of them had thought that Peter was upset about his uncle not being there. He didn’t blame them; May didn’t like to talk about her late husband very often, and Peter didn’t want to upset her so he didn’t either.

“Kid -,” Tony began, before cutting himself off with a shake of his head. When he spoke again, the words weren’t directed at Peter or Natasha; instead, they were directed to his AI. “Hey, Fri, what does my calendar look like on the day of Underoo’s graduation?”

Peter didn’t ask how Tony expected Friday to know when his graduation was; he didn’t think there was anything the AI couldn’t find out.

There was a few moments of silence before Friday answered, “You have one meeting with Miss Potts, and a conference call with King T’Challa in the afternoon.”

A scowl crossed Tony’s face and Peter had to bite back a laugh; the genius hated when he was forced to interact with other people and actually _do_ what others perceived as his job. “Clear them; I’m busy on that day,” he instructed.

Peter’s eyes widened when he realised what Tony clearing his calendar meant. “Tony-,” he began; calling him Mr Stark had stopped being a habit when Tony had brought him back from the dead after Thanos. “You don’t have to do that,” Peter said, despite how he was feeling on the inside.

Part of him desperately wanted Tony to attend his graduation, but he hadn’t known how to ask; if it wasn’t for Tony, Peter knew that he wouldn’t be graduating with such a good resume if it wasn’t for Tony involving him with ‘Stark Industries’ (even if that was just a cover for him being an Avenger).

Tony’s lips pursed as he threw Peter a firm look; a look that said he knew perfectly well he didn’t have to do it. Like Natasha, once he had something in his mind, there was no convincing him otherwise.

“I’ll be there, kid,” Tony told him, the tone of his voice leaving no room for argument, so Peter didn’t bother.

If anything, Peter was trying his hardest to not grin widely.

Across the table, Natasha nodded her head, her red curls bouncing as she did. “Me too,” she swore.

There was no stopping the smile from spreading across Peter’s face then.

*

Of course, because the universe was always against Peter, the Avengers received a phone call from Doctor Strange, requesting their assistance with a particularly tricky foe in New Zealand.

“Whoa!” Tony exclaimed when they were halfway from their ‘war-room’ to the storage area where they all kept their gear. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, placing a hand on Peter’s shoulder, anchoring him in place while the other’s continued walking - although, Natasha did pause a little while down the corridor, turning to look back at the pair curiously.

Peter frowned and turned his eyes up to his mentor. “The mission,” he replied, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that was settling in his stomach. He had a feeling he knew what Tony was going to say, and that he wasn’t going to like it.

His fears were proven correct when Tony spoke again, “We can handle this without you.” Peter opened his mouth to argue, but Tony shook his head. “This isn’t open for discussion; you’re going to stay here and focus on your graduation.”

He sensed Natasha coming up to him, but didn’t turn until he felt a hand on his arm. “We’re not going to be long,” Natasha said, and Peter couldn’t help feeling irritated that she knew what he was thinking. “We’ll be back in time for the ceremony,” she added.

Peter scowled deeply and turned to face the redhead. He wanted to tell her that if she was so sure they were going to be back, he could go with them. But he knew there was no point; they had both clearly decided that he wasn’t going with them.

“You can’t promise that,” Peter snapped, immediately hating himself for taking his anger out on the pair of them, but not feeling guilty enough to take the words back.

Without another word, he shrugged Natasha’s hand off him and stormed away from the pair of them, not looking back. He could hear Tony call his name, but didn’t look back.

It wasn’t fair how he was always left behind when there was a mission that Tony thought was going to be too dangerous. He had thought they’d gotten past the genius treating him like a kid after the whole debacle with the Infinity Stones.

But apparently nothing had changed; Tony was never going to look at him as anything more than the little kid he’d taken under his wing.

*

“They’re still not back?” Ned asked for what felt like the thousandth time over the last two days.

Peter groaned and ran a hand over his face. “Nope,” he replied, not even bothering to hide the wine in his voice. “Haven’t heard a word from them since they left,” he added bitterly.

For the first few days they had been gone, Peter had asked Friday for updates, but all she had been authorised to tell him was that the rest of the Avengers were alive. The rest of the mission had been deemed classified, and because he was still in the US, Peter’s clearance didn’t apply.

“Hey, Penis!” Flash’s voice yelled, cutting through the silence and making Peter swear under his breath. “Looks like your imaginary friendship with Tony Stark doesn’t extend to public events,” he added, smirking when Peter’s eyes widened in surprise.

A guilty look crossed Ned’s face and he knew immediately that his best friend was the reason for Flash’s sudden knowledge of who Peter had invited to the ceremony.

“I’m sorry!” Ned exclaimed, knowing full well that Peter had figured out where the source of the info leak came from. “I didn’t mean to; it slipped out!”

Peter sighed heavily and shook his head. “Whatever, it’s fine,” he muttered, turning his back on Flash and ignoring him completely. He didn’t want to address either of the other teenagers about who he had invited to his graduation; that would mean admitting to himself that there was no way neither Tony or Natasha were attending.

Before Flash could tease him some more, the door opened and a teacher stepped through, holding a clip board in his hand and looking stressed. 

“Places in line!” the teacher cried, and they all jumped to attention, rushing to comply.

It was time; they were a short while away from graduating and heading out into the wide world.

As they took their seats in the auditorium, Peter couldn’t stop his eyes from scouring the room. He stopped when he reached May’s gaze and his aunt threw him an apologetic look; there were two empty seats beside her that Peter just _knew_ had been intended for Natasha and Tony.

Neither of which were anywhere to be seen.

Peter suppressed a sigh and dragged his attention away from May; he should have known that there was no way the others were going to make their way back from _New Zealand_ in time.

He tuned out the majority of the ceremony; he didn’t really care what the principal had to say about their future when none of them were going to see the faculty ever again.

The principal was reaching for the diplomas when there was a commotion from _outside_ the auditorium, successfully getting _everyone’s_ attention.

For a long while no one moved, until the door opened and two people stepped through. Peter’s breath caught in his throat as he realised the people were actually Tony and Natasha.

They had made it. A little late, but they had made it before the most important part of the ceremony.

Peter was just relieved that Tony had left his Iron Man armour _somewhere_.

Everyone drew in a surprised gasp when the door opened behind the pair, revealing Captain America, White Wolf, Thor and Doctor Strange; unlike Tony, they were still dressed in their battle armour.

“Sorry we’re late!” Tony said, not even having to raise his voice to be heard in the silent auditorium. When no one moved, he added, “Don’t let us interrupt; we’re just here for the ceremony.”

As one, the group moved to the side so they were no longer at the centre of attention. Across the room, Tony met Peter’s eyes and the older man offered the teenager a smile, which made him blush uncomfortably and slump down into his seat.

When he had invited Tony and Natasha, Peter had know that they would have caught people’s attention, but he’d had no idea it would be to this extent.

The auditorium was silent as people tried to decide what was the best way to move on from the interruption; all the while, Peter was trying to ignore that his cheeks were scarlet and Ned was grinning at him widely from his own seat a few rows away.

In the end, the principal decided that the best way to ignore the interruption was to do precisely that - pretend like it had never happened.

With a slight clearing of his throat, the principal retook his place at the podium and began speaking.

Peter quickly tuned out what he was saying and diverted his eyes away from the teacher. Without meaning to, he found himself seeking out the rest of the Avengers.

Thor looked confused at what was going on, while Doctor Strange tried to explain to him as quietly as he could. Bucky and Steve were paying close to the ceremony. Natasha and Tony were stood shoulder to shoulder, and Peter was pretty sure that the female assassin was on the verge of tears - not that he would ever call her out on that.

It was Tony that Peter was the most surprised about. His mentor wasn’t even trying to suppress the brilliant grin.

“Peter Parker,” the principal called when he finally reached the P’s on his list.

If Peter had thought their entrance had been embarrassing, that had been nothing compared to the ruckus that exploded from the group when Peter’s name was called.

As he made his way across the stage, the cheers continued and there was even a loud whistle which rose over the rest of the noise; Peter was pretty sure it came from Bucky, since he couldn’t picture any of the rest of them doing that.

Diploma safely in hand, Peter returned to his seat, slumping down and trying to pretend he wasn’t there.

*

The ceremony was over far faster than Peter was happy about. He had been more than willing to remain in his seat and pretend there weren’t a handful of superheroes standing at the back to the room.

All too soon, Peter was being forced out of his chair and ushered toward his Aunt May, who had now been joined by Tony, Natasha and the rest of the Avengers.

There were still hundreds of eyes on them, but the majority of parents were trying to focus their attention on their children who had just reached the biggest milestone of their teenage years.

“Congratulations, Sweetie,” Aunt May cooed, pulling Peter into a tight hug as soon as the eighteen-year-old was close enough. 

Peter hugged her back, pressing his face against her neck as he soaked in the comfort she was offering him. Over her shoulder, he could see Natasha and Tony standing shoulder to shoulder, looking for all the world like they wanted to interrupt but knew they had to give May her moment.

Before an argument could break out - or Tony exploded like it looked as if he was going to - Peter pulled away from May and turned to face the rest of them.

When he realised that Peter was looking at him, Tony plastered a grin across his face. “We told you that we’d be here,” he pointed out, making Peter roll his eyes.

“I suppose late is better than not at all,” he muttered, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face. Even though he had wanted to be mad at them for turning up in the middle of the ceremony and making a spectacle of themselves.

A smile broke through the stoic facade that Natasha liked to present to the public as she took a step forward and pulled Peter into a hug that would surely crush his bones if he wasn’t an enhanced human.

“Who’s that kid glaring at you?” Tony asked, his voice tightly controlled in the way that Peter recognised as him trying to reign in his anger.

Without even having to look Peter knew that his mentor was talking about Flash - there was only one person who would be actively glaring at Peter at any given point of the day.

He didn’t even turn around - didn’t bother giving the other teenager the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten under Peter’s skin.

“Probably Flash,” he answered, finally releasing Natasha. “He doesn’t believe I know you and it got out that you were invited today.” He shrugged his shoulders. “He’s pissed because you being here is something less to tease me about.”

Something akin to fury flashed across Tony’s face and Peter winced, he hadn’t meant to admit that Flash bullied him; he had tried his hardest to make Tony see him as something more the kid he had been when Spider-Man had been recruited.

Before Peter could say anything, Natasha placed a hand on Tony’s arm, whispering something that only the genius could hear. It took a moment of soothing words from Natasha before Tony came back to them, and finally stopped looking like he wanted to rip Flash’s head off.

Peter threw Natasha a thankful look, even though he didn’t know what she had said to him, but he knew that he was grateful to her; the last thing any of them needed was for Tony to get arrested for beating the shit out of Flash.

There was still a lingering look of pure ire on Tony’s face as he stepped forward and part of Peter had to fight to not flinch; he knew there was no way the anger was directed at him, but even the stupidest of people would be scared in the face of Tony Stark’s fury.

Peter let out a squeak when Tony reached out and pulled him into his arms; his mentor wasn’t big on public displays of affection. Generally the only person he offered fleeting touches to was Natasha and Peter wasn’t sure he realised how often he patted her shoulder, arm and thigh in passing.

At first, Peter was rigid in Tony’s arms, not feeling able to believe what was happening, before he slowly relaxed. He even went so far as to wrap his arms around Tony, tentatively hugging him back for a moment.

When Tony released Peter, there was a light blush on his face and Peter was pretty sure the corners of Tony’s eyes were glistening with unshed tears. He didn’t comment on Tony’s obvious show of affection, but not to save Tony’s reputation - he was feeling the same way himself.

As the other Avengers drew closer - having been hanging back to allow the odd-makeshift family time to congratulate Peter - the recently graduated teenager couldn’t help glancing over at Flash.

Flash was standing with his parents, not it made a difference since neither of them were paying attention to their child; his father was talking rapidly on his cellphone, while his mother concentrated on ensuring her fuchsia lipstick was a perfect.

Flash’s mouth was hanging open in surprise and he was glaring at Peter with even more fury than Tony had been showing prior to Natasha’s intervention.

Peter couldn’t help smirking, knowing that Flash was detesting him even more than he already had. If there was one thing Flash Thompson detested it was being proven wrong by _anyone_ \- Peter Parker in particular.

Knowing that he had been able to bring Flash down a peg or two felt good, Peter thought to himself, turning back to his family. His smirked morphed into a grin at the sight of the Avengers trying to pretend they were ‘normal’ people.

Sure, getting one over on Flash felt good, but not as good as knowing that he had a group of people who cared enough about him to move heaven and earth to get to his graduation.


End file.
